Javier Perianes, Music and artificial intelligence

Presenter Tom Service is joined by the Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, ahead of his concert at Wigmore Hall, to discuss the creative and musical connections between Enrique Granados and the trio of German composers – Robert and Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. Javier explains why you don’t necessarily need to be a native to play Spanish music, and how composers from both the Iberian peninsula and across Europe draw inspiration from the folk music of their native land. Javier talks too about his plans to direct, from the keyboard, Mozart and Beethoven piano concerti with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.

As artificial intelligence hits the news this week with stories like the AI-crafted image that won the Sony World Photography Award, and the withdrawal by streaming platforms of an AI-generated song – purportedly by the artist Drake – due to possible infringement, Tom is joined by composers Robert Laidlow and Emily Howard, as well as music technology lecturer and journalist Karl Hodge, to explore both the creative possibilities and the challenges surrounding this evolving technology.

The singer and marketeer Ruth Hartt shares her perspectives on the shifting trends of concert hall audiences in America, and what organisations around the world can do to make their work more relevant to society – which she sees as crucial for the future of Classical Music – as well as to appeal to broader demographics.

And Music Matters speaks to the National Open Youth Orchestra's Doug Bott, plus two musicians from the ensemble – Oliver Cross and Holli Pandit – about their ethos and objectives, as well as a new report, launched in connection with Sound Connections, about the learnings from NOYO’s pioneering approach to working with young disabled people.